Transitional Arrangements Read online

  “Sorry. I won’t mention it again.”

  He shrugged. “No, it’s fair comment. But it’s not solving our current dilemma, which is Ajui.”

  “We need Parido to get the prick under control. Is there no one on the team you could try to speak to? Because you’re gonna need weapons—even more than Ajui’s got tucked in that pack of his.”

  “I was sort of hoping he’d know where to pick them up, him being a nasty old bad hat and everything.” I had to chuckle at the dry tone. “We need to make a plan and soon, and I need to work on these damn shields. And somehow, I’m going to have to fit in a lot of grocery shopping because the way that man eats, we’ll be through what we bought today in a day and a half.”

  “Better speak to Lekin at the store, then. Ask him to send up a supply.” Damn it, this was the kind of detail we needed the team for. Logistics had been Wevi’s thing. Not that food shopping was strictly part of his remit.... “How badly hurt were the others?”

  “Bad enough,” he said with a grimace. “Wevi took one in the shoulder, Jakel in the thigh, and he’s not going to walk for a while, and Carin got clipped above the ear—concussion. Could have been worse...I mean, apart from you getting killed.”

  “Just forget that bit,” I urged. “I’m here. Concentrate on that.”

  “I’ll try. Right—back to work.”

  “Don’t let the little shit get to you,” I said as he stood up. “He’s trying to make you mad.”

  “Yes. The question is—why?”

  “Cos he’s fucked up?”

  He shook his head. “That’s probably the only reason I’ll get out of him. Lord, I miss having you as back up. You never let me down, Nev. Not once. You were the one I knew I could trust no matter what. Best partner, best lover—best man....”

  “Stop, you’re making me sick.” And teary, I thought, quickly brushing my hand across my eyes.

  “...Biggest pain in the arse....” I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed. “Well, you know you could be.”

  “Mr Pot, meet Mr Kettle. Come on.”

  But when we walked back out into the kitchen, there was a surprise waiting for us—Ajui, sitting at the table, hacking at his hair with a pair of scissors, tears streaming down his face. “Didn’t want you touching it,” he snapped, trying to look tough and failing miserably. Parido was standing at the far wall, watching his lover with something that almost seemed like pity in his expression.

  Jesi nodded, and walked out again. I didn’t follow this time—I was too busy trying to work out what was so special about a few handfuls of lank blond hair.

  “They shaved his head in prison,” Parido said, startling me. “Held him down to do it. And...a few other things while he was down.”

  “You mean...?” I stared at Ajui, still hacking viciously at himself and making a complete mess. “How old was he?”

  “The ESF detained him when he was nine. The Marauders sprung him at eighteen. He’s twenty-three.” Parido looked at me directly, bright scorn in his blue eyes. “You despise him for what he is, but your orphanage was no prison. No one raped you, no one starved you, no one took away your freedom because you were a paranormal or tormented you because you refused to bend to their commands.”

  “Waaaait a minute! The ESF don’t run prisons.”

  “Don’t they? You’d know different if that talent of yours was something they could measure. Half the Marauders are people we’ve rescued from ESF detention centres.” He sneered. “And you call yourselves the good guys.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “What possible motive could I have? It’s not like I want your pity or sympathy. But you need to understand this. Tinun isn’t mad. The things you see, the things you condemn, are the result of things that were done to him, things done to him to try and control him and turn him into a tool of the state. What you see are coping strategies. You would be wise to make Gonlimi understand that. Tinu’s a good operative, but he’s adrift and I can only do so much. Gonlimi wants to be alpha male? That’s fine—but the alpha male cares for his pack all the time, and all of the pack. Not just the ones he’s fucking.”

  It was the most impassioned I’d seen him, and somehow, though I didn’t want to believe him, I knew he wasn’t lying. What he said made no sense though. I wanted more information, but Jesi was coming back in and Ajui could hear us again. It would have to be later.

  Jesi laid a shaving mirror, a comb and our wind-up clippers in front of Ajui. “Can you manage those?”

  Ajui nodded jerkily. Jesi just grunted in acknowledgement and went back over to the counter, completely ignoring the crazy guy at the table. Ajui looked at the clippers, then picked up the mirror. I saw more tears falling as he realised what he looked like, but then he scrubbed his nose, put the mirror down, then got the clippers and wound them up to the fullest extent. The buzz as he sheared off the rest of his hair was shockingly loud, as was his sobbing. For a moment or two, I could see the nine-year-old kid who’d had this done to him by force, over and over, and maybe...I felt sorry for him. The kid, not the man.

  Well, maybe the man too. There were things you just didn’t do to another human being.

  Maybe Jesi had some kind of paranormal talent—and I was still trying to get my head around the idea that the ESF had been rounding up and imprisoning paranormals—because he was as careful with Ajui as if he’d heard the story himself from Parido’s cold, dead lips. He left the guy alone until he was looking at himself in the mirror, clearly having trouble with the back, and then he came over with a plate of cookies and an enormous glass of milk, set it down near Ajui, and took a seat. “I was thinking the only way we’re going to get into this shrine is if one of us pretends to be sick. With some make-up and good acting, and you not having any hair, do you think you could fake it?”

  “Of course,” the little prick said, grabbing a cookie. “And don’t forget my inbuilt power of persuasion,” he said, tapping his head. He took a big bite of the cookie, sniffled, then swallowed some of the milk. Forget nine—with his hair gone, and his teary face, he looked all of six. He wasn’t very tall, and he was skinny as all hell—yeah, he could look like a terminal case pretty easy.

  “How does that work? I thought you couldn’t make people do things?”

  “‘Make’, no. Persuade, yes. Doesn’t work if they know what I’m up to, but most people live in a world of self-delusion. Like you, thinking you were this incredibly popular team leader until reality got shoved in your face.”

  I knew Jesi could have any number of bitchy comebacks to that, and he used none of them. Patience of a temple priest, that man. “Yes, good point,” he said mildly. “So if people expect to see a dying man, you can convince they’re looking at one. That’s very useful.”

  I swear Ajui was pleased, but he hid it again, taking another cookie and stuffing it into his mouth. When he washed it down with more milk, he couldn’t resist being nasty. “Of course, there’s no point if you’re broadcasting the truth. We don’t work with untalenteds for a reason.”

  “I’m sure, but we’re slightly out of options here.” Jesi looked over at me. “Is Parido there?”

  “Here, Gonlimi,” he said, coming to my side.

  “We need ground plans, details of who what and where, and some idea how we make this thing not happen.”

  “I’ve seen plans, but since Tinun can’t read my mind, that’s a bit of a problem. But the short version is that you’ll need to kill the Bridges.”

  “All of them?” I asked, horrified at the blunt statement. “Are they part of the Exalted’s crew or are they dupes?”

  “Dupes—or blackmailed,” Parido said, his eyes cold and pitiless. “They still need to die. If even one of them is in the right place at the right time, there is a seventy-nine percent probability that the ceremony will succeed. They only really need two for one hundred percent certainty—they’re building in redundancy.”

  “We can just rescue them,” I said firmly. “ESF aren’t wanton killers.” Ajui choked, and then gave me a sneer. “Well, I wasn’t. Jesi’s not.”

  “No, I’m not,” Jesi agreed.

  “I’m not squeamish—you can leave that kind of detail to me,” Ajui said. “Don’t like killing our kind, but our kind shouldn’t be helping these bastards.”

  “But Parido just said they were being tricked or forced,” I said, aghast at the cool way Ajui just condemned four people to die.

  “It’s them or the world,” Parido said. “Easy choice.”

  Jesi could see me getting ready to yell, and he held up his hand. “We’ll try disabling them first. Termination is the last, not the first option.”

  “Fool,” Ajui said, reaching for another cookie and stuffing it into his mouth.

  “Maybe. We still have to get inside. Parido, have you got a plan?”

  “I’m having to make some fresh calculations. I wasn’t thinking it would just be the two of you.”

  Jesi refused to rise to the bait. “Well, get on with it. Ajui and I will commence shield training. Nev, you work with him. I think checking out the truth of this story wouldn’t hurt either.”

  “Yeah.” I turned to Parido. “Before this goes any further, I want to talk to these super spirit guys.”

  “They’ve got more important things to concern themselves with.”

  I felt like slapping him, smug git. I settled for poking him in the chest. “More important than their own existence? Bull. Set it up, or me and Jes’ll take our chances on chance. Right, Jes?”

  “Yes.”

  When he wanted them to, Jesi’s eyes could be as cold as Parido’s, and Parido was just smart enough to know he was beaten. “All right, but I need to speak to them. It’s not as simple as walking into their home.”

  “
Do it. I’ll watch your boyfriend and Jes. I want to be sure nothing kooky’s going on.”

  “With him?” Ajui said. “Yuck.”

  “Consider it mutual,” Jesi said, but with a smile that took some of the sting out of it. I could see why he bothered. Ajui’s self-confidence was pretty fragile under the attitude and the bluster. We didn’t need him freaking out again.

  “Tinun, don’t do anything unwise,” Parido warned. “And no jokes. We don’t have time.”

  “Aw, Keril...just one?”

  “You want to keep talking to him?” I said, smiling nastily at the prick. “Mess with Jesi’s head and you’ll never see him again. Get it?”

  “Maybe the dead, talking boyfriend isn’t such a great deal,” he snapped. “I did just fine without him for a month. Wasn’t me trying to blow my brains out.”

  “Ajui—don’t push your luck, okay?” This was Jesi, fixing the guy with a serious look. The one that everyone on our team knew meant, “Don’t fuck with me on this or you’ll live to regret it.” “I’m your backup, you’re mine. I can’t do my job if you’re playing games, and we need Nev and Parido on our side.”

  Ajui stuck his bottom lip out. “All right,” he grumbled. “I wasn’t gonna do anything big. Just...maybe convince you that you were getting a little STD or something.”

  “Charming. Parido? You’ve got work to do.”

  “And I don’t need you to tell me that. You certainly don’t outrank me.”

  “You mean alive and breathing doesn’t trump dead and disembodied?”

  “Piss off,” Parido muttered. Even Ajui snickered a little at that. Parido disappeared. Can’t say I was upset about it.

  Ajui snuck another cookie. He seemed a lot calmer, and I remembered how good Jesi had been with me when I was a new ESF recruit, full of piss and vinegar, no manners or polish, at least compared to him. He’d been so patient with me while I settled in—made me his slave for life, even before I fell in love with him, which wasn’t all that long afterwards. I just hoped Ajui wasn’t headed that way. I might be dead, but Jesi was still mine.

  “Let me clean up,” Jesi said, nodding at the fallen hair. Ajui stiffened up, not liking the reminder, but said nothing as Jesi swept up the mess and wiped the table and chairs down. He picked up the clippers. “Want me to tidy the back for you?”

  Ajui’s mouth thinned to nothing, but he nodded. Jesi moved behind him, wound the clippers up but before he could touch the prick, the guy suddenly yanked out the pistol from his waist holster, and shoved it in Jesi’s gut. Jesi froze. Ajui looked at him in the mirror. “Just the hair,” he growled.

  “Of course. I’ll have to put my hand on you—is that okay?”

  Ajui nodded jerkily, his eyes on Jesi’s reflection the whole time, and then he sat absolutely rigid as Jesi carefully finished off the crappy hair do, tidying up the bits missed front and back, and then gently dusting off his shoulders and back. “There. You might like to shower and change. Throw your clothes in the hamper, I’ll do a wash later.” Ajui’s gun was still jammed into his middle.

  “I can wash my own fucking clothes.”

  “Then you can wash your own clothes. It’s not a big deal.”

  Ajui got up, shoved the chair back violently and glared at Jesi. “Don’t think that gives you any rights.”

  “You can read my mind. Do you see any sign of me thinking that?”

  Ajui snarled, and then stomped off. Jesi sighed, and continued the clean up. The kitchen wouldn’t be my first choice for a haircut. Ajui would never have dreamed of asking for permission, of course.

  “You’re good with him.”

  “Parido tell you more about what happened to him? There has to be abuse there somewhere, surely. I’ve seen that kind of thing with kids we pull out of druggie homes.”

  “It’s more than that.” I told him what Parido told me. He didn’t seem that surprised. “You knew about this?”

  “No. But...ESF’s attitude to paranormals always struck me as a bit strident, considering we were supposed to just be dealing with con artists. It’s a big organisation—you and me, we never got involved with more than about five percent of what it did. I wouldn’t disbelieve Parido just because I’d never heard of it.”

  “But what are they doing with these people?” I asked. What was the point of just locking up otherwise harmless citizens? If they were going to turn them into criminals and psychos, it’d be better to leave the paranormals loose.

  “At a guess, use them for their own research, maybe try and recruit a few. Control them mainly. Can you imagine how much damage they could do? Considering how much trouble the Marauders cause on their own and they’re just sticking to criminality?”

  “You mean—they could take over the whole country?” Jesi nodded. “But what do they do to them in prison? How are they controlling them?”

  “No idea. You could ask Ajui, though I don’t think he’d be thrilled to talk about it.”

  “No. Can’t blame the little sod,” I had to admit. “But that puts the kibosh on trying to bring anyone in from ESF even more.”

  He put the broom back in the closet. “Yes. I was half thinking of having Ajui explain things to Luiz, let her see you, but if she freaked, which she’s more than likely to, we’d have the whole of ESF down around our ears. Not that it’s not bad enough on its own that we have a Marauder staying here.”

  “There’s one thing though,” I said slowly. “If the ESF actually do believe in paranormals, why can’t we just...tip off the right people and let them deal with this shrine?”

  He frowned. “You’re assuming they don’t know about it, and I can’t see how we can convince them to move in without all this spirit stuff which we don’t have a hope of proving. Once we break cover, we can’t handle it alone—and Ajui will be taken. So will I. The moment I brought him back here, I became a traitor. Not that I mind, but to them, I’m the same as him now.”

  “Shit.” I’d ruined Jesi’s life, probably. “They needn’t ever know.”

  “Well, Ajui plans to kill me after, so it doesn’t matter,” he said with a smile.

  “Jes!”

  “Calm down, love. We’ve got a few days before we need to worry about that.”

  “You expect me not to worry?”

  “No, but I expect you to concentrate on the job in hand more. You realise we have a supreme advantage with you and Parido being our spies in the sky? Almost makes me wish I hadn’t resigned. Think of what a team we’d make—fighting crime across the dimensions.”

  “Now you’re just being silly,” I said severely.

  “Yes,” he said, grinning. “Now let me finish in here. If Ajui’s going to poke holes in my head, I want the apartment tidy before I get too crazy to care.”

  “Jes, that’s not funny.”

  “Sorry, Nev.”

  Chapter 6 — Transitional Arrangements

  Ajui was ages in the bathroom. I bet he’d never paid a water bill in his life, if that was the kind of shower he was used to. Jesi had made coffee and was sipping it in the now spotless kitchen when he emerged. “You look really good,” he said as Ajui walked in, obviously ill at ease in the clothes and the new ‘do.

  “I look like a freak,” he muttered. Me, I had to agree, just because it was him saying it, but there was no doubt the clothes were an improvement. They were plain—well-cut trousers and a nice dark green shirt—but covering up Ajui’s tattooed skin and removing the general trampy effect did wonders for him.

  “No, you don’t. Tell him, Nev.”

  “You look okay,” I said grudgingly.

  “Just okay,” he repeated flatly. “I’m gonna change back into my—”

  Jesi frowned at me, and I hastily added, “More than okay, okay? You look...smooth. For a prick.”

  Ajui grinned. “It’s killing you to say that, ain’t it?”

  “Not hardly,” I retorted. The grin didn’t slip at all.

  “Have a seat, Ajui,” Jesi said, ignoring our idiocy. “Would you like something to eat? I could make some sandwiches.”

  “I could do with a drink—got any booze?”

  “Sorry, I don’t drink. Don’t keep it in the apartment.”

  Ajui stared at him. “Seriously? You don’t drink?”